Blame it on Paris

PARIS, SECOND CHANCES, CHERRY BLOSSOMS, AMERICANS ACTING BADLY-- DID I MENTION PARIS? When Francie Bennett, 4th in the line of lawyer/sisters, comes under serious allegations of wrongdoing at her law firm, she is mortified to learn she must take a leave of absence. Just a formality, they say, but she is sure this is the end of her reputation and her law career. Will she sit around her apartment and eat cheese, drink wine, and binge Netflix for weeks while hoping it gets worked out? ZUT ALORS NON She is off to Paris on assignment by the mother of a student jailed for serious drug crimes in France. She stays with her sister Merle and her boyfriend, the debonair policier Pascal, in the Marais district while trying to navigate the murky waters of the French criminal system. Is the student an actual European drug kingpin? Or has he been framed by someone? He looks guilty as hell, but first impressions can be confusing, especially inside one of France's worst medieval prisons. But wait-- a distraction from crime. A law school boyfriend that the flighty Francie kicked to the curb years before has surfaced. Instead of the boring lad she flicked away, Dylan Hardy is now sophisticated and suave-- and speaks perfect French from working in an international law firm. And he's single again, Merle discovers, eager to find her sister a real boyfriend after many rejects over the years. IT'S SPRINGTIME IN PARIS-- or would be if the rain would ever stop. In between visiting the student in prison, gumshoeing about his University, and witnessing drug stings gone wrong, Francie longs to find blooming cherry trees that make Paris the magical place she imagines it is. Will Dylan's sudden re-appearance in her life be a good thing, or a repeat of her many romantic failures? Will she figure out what is going on with the drug dealer/student? Will she ever find her pink trees of legend? Watch this space for the next Bennett Sisters Mystery. Francie, sister number four, has her own adventure in law, love, and France. Coming August 24. Preorder now